Nonmechanical closure

ABSTRACT

THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE DESCRIBES A NON-MECHANICAL CLOSURE CONSISTING OF CONFORMING RIDGED AND GROOVED RESEALABLE LOCKING MEMBERS. THE LOCKING MEMBERS EACH HAVE A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL LOCKING NIPPLES WHICH MAY BE FORMED OF EXTRUDED LOW DENSITY PLASTIC. THE LOCKING NIPPLES MAY BE CONTINUOUS, THOUGH THEY MAY BE INTERRUPTED. THEY ARE ATTACHED BY STITCHING OR ADHESION TO VARIOUS TYPES OF FABRICS, GARMENTS AND OTHER OBJECTS WHICH ARE TO BE FASTENED TOGETHER BY DETACHABLE MEANS.

Jan. 26,, 197l v i w, ENGLE -3,557,413

NONMECHANICAL CLOSURE Filed Sept. 23, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 VEN TOR.

IN 52 WILLIAM H. ENGLE ll ATTORNEY Jan 26, 1971 w. H. ENGLENONMECHANICAL CLOSURE Filed Sept.' 23, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-.4

Q E z a v WILLIAL TFZR L E BY %7fl @U 3,557,413 NONMECHANICAL CLOSUREWilliam H. Engle, 10 Hillvale Road, Syosset, N.Y. 11791 Filed Sept. 23,1968, Ser. No. 761,548 Int. Cl. A44b 17/00, 19/14 US. Cl. 24-201 4Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure describes anon-mechanical closure consisting of conforming ridged and groovedresealable locking members. The locking members each have a plurality ofparallel locking nipples which may be formed of extruded low densityplastic. The locking nipples may be continuous, though they may beinterrupted. They are attached by stitching or adhesion to various typesof fabrics, garments and other objects which are to be fastened togetherby detachable means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to anon-mechanical closing and holding device, which is preferably formed ofextruded plastic materials.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide anon-mechanical detachable fastening device without using opening orclosing zipper members, which may be readily attached to fabrics,garments, cardboard flaps, or the like for detachable fasteningpurposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a detachableclosure which may be readily re-sealed and opened and which can beproduced economically at low cost and may be attached at a minimum ofexpense and Without difliculty to sheet materials such as fabrics orpaper.

A further object is to provide a fastening. device which can be readilyused in connection with packaging, particularly cardboard packaging,which will adequately secure the flaps and closures together, withelimination of the usual tapes and metal strips.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory,according to the present invention, to provide extruded plastic stripshaving upwardly projecting therefrom a series of parallel closely spacedridged members which will extend the length of the fastening device andwhich are separated by parallel grooves. The ridged members and thegrooves should have the same cross-section with enlargements at the topand bottom thereof, so that the ridges and grooves may be readily lockedtogether.

At the same time the base material is desirably of a low density plasticwhich will permit the ridges and grooves on opposite members to belocked together and when forced together to resist transverseseparation, although permitting sliding of the elements in respect toeach other. The density of the plastic and the pliability thereof willaffect the strength of the attachment.

In the cross-sectional shape of the ridges the device thereof may beenlarged, while the groove between the ridges will have the same shape,with the bottoms thereof similarly enlarged. The bottoms of the groovesmay have small recesses extending longitudinally therethrough, which'arematched by small projections on the top of the United States Patent3,557,413 Patented Jan. 26, 1971 ridge elements. The ridge elements, aswell as the grooves, may also be shouldered or have the re-entrant toothelements to enhance the attachment.

In general, the male and female elements are of similar or samecross-section, and, when pressed together, will lock together with theprojections of one element completely filling the recesses or grooves inthe other element.

The cross-sectional shapes may be considerably varied to give thelocking effect and the strength of the attachment will be controlled notonly by the size of the nipple but also in accordance with the densityof the material. The preferred material is a low density plastic, suchas polyvinyl chloride, but it is also possible to utilize polyethyleneor low density polystyrene. The device may be particularly used forfastening garments, shoes or belts, for bag closures, for sealing bagsand cartons, and for a wide variety of purposes where fastenings areutilized in the clothing and packaging field.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS With the foregoing and other objects inview, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodimentof the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variationsand modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of theclaims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective plan view of a section of the fasteningelement of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view indicating how the male and femaleelements may be attached together.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view, similar to FIG. 2, showing theelements attached together.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing the fastening elements ofFIGS. 1 to 3, transversely interrupted.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the interrupted structure of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of another form of interlocking ridge.

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view showing the functioning of theinterlocking ridges of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view of an alternative embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the extrusion A of polyvinyl chloride, polyethyleneor low density polystyrene has a base structure B and a plurality ofparallel, upwardly projecting ridges C and recesses D. The extrusion ofFIG. 1 may be cut into two portions, the base or female portion 10 and amale or locking portion 11. It will be noted that the cross-sections ofthe recesses or grooves 12 are the same as cross-sections of theupwardly projecting portions 13 in the base portion 10, and this is alsotrue of the projecting portions 14 and the recesses 15 of the malestructure, as shown in FIG. 2.

In general, the projecting portions 13 and 14 will have a curved topface 16 in the lower element 10 and 17 in the upper element 11, theprojecting side faces 18 in the lower section 10 and 19 in the uppersection 11.

The recesses 12 of the bottom section or element 10 and the top element11 are similarly formed with curved bottoms 20 and with inwardlyconverging sides 21, which also form the sides of the knoblikecross-sections of the ridges 13 and 14. As a result, when these elementsare pressed together, as shown in FIG. 3, they will engage and locktogether with the resiliency of the polyplastic material, assuring atight gripping action.

The low density plastic material, which forms the body of the fasteningelements of FIGS. 2 and 3, may be varied in density and size so as togive varying gripping effects.

For example, a separation between the mid-section of the projectingelements, as indicated by the dimension 22, may be of an inch, while thematching width of each projecting element may be of an inch.

The space between the projecting ridges C, as indicated by the dimension23, may be of an inch. The elements and 11 of FIGS. 2 and 3 may be cutoff in small sections, varying in dimension from 1 inch to 2 inches andmay be attached at their bottom faces 24 and 25 by adhesive, heat orother means of attachment.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the base structure may be used forattachment purposes and the ridge members 31 may be cut as indicated at32 by milling. These recesses or grooves 32 may be A or A of the lockingnipples or projections 31, which may be of the same cross-section asalready illustrated in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3.

The structures of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be stitched to a base fabric orother sheet material by stitching along the recesses 32 and theprojecting elements 31 may fit in the spaces 33 of an opposite elementto give the locking efiFect.

In FIG. 6, the base material is shown as having the projecting elements41, with the shoulders 42 above the bottom of the grove 43. As shown inFIG. 4, these members will lock together at 44 to give a firm fastening.

FIG. 8 shows a modification of FIGS. 1 to 3 in which there areprojections 50 with corresponding recesses 51 over the top of the ridges52 and the bottom of the recesses 53. This will aid in the lockingeffect when the members are engaged together, as shown in FIG. 8.

As many changes could be made in the above nonmechanical closure, andmany widely dilferent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departure form the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. An extruded flexible plastic non-mechanical closing and holdingdevice for detachably fastening together sheet materials which comprisesproviding inter-engaging ridged and grooved elements of the samecross-section formed of a pliable elastic material, selected from thegroup consisting of low density polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene andpolystyrene, said elements having base portions and elongated projectingridges of enlarged outer circular cross'section and reduced convergingneck portions connecting the outer cross-section to the base portionsand the elongated spaces between said projecting ridges having the sameshaped relatively wide recessed spaces between neck portions and narrowspaces between the enlarged outer cross-sections, said elongated ridgesbeing of sinuous cross-section with the outer portions being enlargedand the base portions being narrowed so as to form a series of closelyspaced knobs in cross-section transverse to the longitudinal directionof the ridges and mounted integrally on a thin base sheet, the ridgeportions being cut transversely at spaced intervals so as to provideintermediate channels, said cutting being down to said base sheet.

2. The device of claim 1, in which the cross-sections of the elementsare identical in shape and, when reversed upon one another andinter-engaged, will firmly lock together.

3. The device of claim 1, in which the ridges have sidewardly projectingshoulder elements and the ridges will have conforming recessed portionsto conform with said shouldered ridge portions forming transversechannels, said cuts slightly smaller than the residual portions of theinterrupted ridge portions.

4. The device of claim 1, the ridges and grooves being preferablyseparated by about of an inch at their midsections and having an averagewidth of about of an inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,397,801 5/1946 Mitchell 24-2043,101,517 8/1963 Fox 24-204 3,325,084 6/1967 Ausnit 24201.3'UX 3,266,1138/1966 Flanagan 24204 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,467,491 12/1966 France 24204595,874 4/1934 Germany 24-2013 943,668 12/1963 Great Britain 24201.3652,943 2/ 1963 Italy 24-2013 BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 24-204

